The patch really works, but at the beginning of the game, when I enter the first battle, the loading screen plays and my screen goes black, the music plays, but then the game freezes. What can I do?
This has been reported time and time again but I don't actually see any sort of "fix".
When I don't patch the game, I get a solid maybe 15fps. When I DO patch the game using the patcher, or the standalone file with another patcher or even just merely adjusting the 02's to 00/07 using HxD, the game runs fine until I get into battle then the frames PLUMMET, like, hard. Almost to an unplayable state.
I've tried this on an unmodded version and modded version of CC:TRDE, and it's the same result. I even have my NV settings set to Triple Buffer + VSync (also tried with them off) and there's no improvement. The first battle seems to run okay-ish but then every battle after that almost overloads the game and slows it to a crawl whenever in battle.
Does anyone know what does this or how to fix it? I've tried using Retroarch w/Beetle + HD Textures + 60FPS but the game softlocks on the elevator each time so I'm really trying everything to get this patch to work instead.
Edit: As a side note, I can confirm the .exe does not get converted to a 64-Bit version, and as mentioned above this happens even on an unmodded/fresh install version so it's not a confliction with other mods. Something about this patch/patcher just doesn't like battles now.
I think Chrono got patched recently to make it run smoother and that official patch conflicts with ISA FPS. Or at least that's what I think since now when I get into battles the game freezes, so I had to get rid of ISA FPS, meaning this is outdated now.
I honestly have no idea, but since nobody has responded yet, I would probably try the pre-patched EXE first. It's automated and doesn't require another program to utilize. The only reason I'd see to manually use the patcher is if Steam Deck plays hell at running the exe.
I noticed something that has something to do with this patch but I don't know what or why. It shows up after battles in Lizard Rock ( I haven't gotten very far yet ) The lens flare effect has a cross on it. Like the tiles are misaligned or something. I'm not demanding a fix or anything but I thought it was interesting.
That doesn't seem like something associated with this patch/fix, though I could be wrong. I almost wanted to say it seemed like an artifact relating to the sun "sprite" itself, but that didn't make a lot of sense, so the only other conclusion I had is that the sphere represents the "sun light emitter"/directional lighting for the scene -- problem there being that I have no idea how CC/PS1 handled lighting.
Sorry, I know that's basically hot air and doesn't solve your problem, but to reiterate I don't think that has anything to do with this patch, as I've been using it for a while now and haven't seen anything like it. Would need more information to help narrow it down for you -- as would the mod author, I imagine.
I uninstalled everything, started over with a fresh install of Chrono Cross for testing. Using ONLY the isa FPS Hack, I can also confirm the sun has a weird cross in the center of it. More importantly, in the first fight with Karsh his forehead is transparent. So for some of us this very necessary mod is corrupting the game's visuals. Which sucks, because w/o this the input lag is atrocious.
If any info helps, my PC only has integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000. In case that's the issue.
Try using Special K instead of this mod if you are having issues. It's probably the better method nowadays any way even if I have not tried it myself =)
Same as previous comment, I can't see any difference trying the patcher or using LunarIPS with the ips file, and Task Manager still says CHRONOCROSS.exe is 32-bit.
I've tried Special K (at least the latest version, not the one on this mod page) and that does have a noticeable difference, but it requires running through its own launcher, which is a pain. It also makes the pause menu (which appears natively 60fps) stutter when navigating the menu/elements,
However following the non-SK method two guide heredoes work, and the menus are at least close to performance of native, if a bit fast. (Still 32-bit though.) How weirdly inconsistent.
I can't imagine how they would run together. Do either method imo, but go ahead and try if you wish. If anything I'd imagine Special K wouldn't run properly on this exe, if it ran at all. At the very least, I can't imagine you getting a better experience since Special K already includes a version of this same hack inside, and double hacking sounds like a treasure mine for errors.
I've unzipped the "The Patcher" folder after downloading it. Most times it refuses to extract anything, and when I manually rip the single file out of the package it does nothing, and sometimes automatically deletes it! "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item" I'm the only user of this computer and I have admin privileges by default.
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When I don't patch the game, I get a solid maybe 15fps.
When I DO patch the game using the patcher, or the standalone file with another patcher or even just merely adjusting the 02's to 00/07 using HxD, the game runs fine until I get into battle then the frames PLUMMET, like, hard. Almost to an unplayable state.
I've tried this on an unmodded version and modded version of CC:TRDE, and it's the same result. I even have my NV settings set to Triple Buffer + VSync (also tried with them off) and there's no improvement. The first battle seems to run okay-ish but then every battle after that almost overloads the game and slows it to a crawl whenever in battle.
Does anyone know what does this or how to fix it? I've tried using Retroarch w/Beetle + HD Textures + 60FPS but the game softlocks on the elevator each time so I'm really trying everything to get this patch to work instead.
Edit: As a side note, I can confirm the .exe does not get converted to a 64-Bit version, and as mentioned above this happens even on an unmodded/fresh install version so it's not a confliction with other mods. Something about this patch/patcher just doesn't like battles now.
* update - looks like a Windows 11 issue. Patcher runs fine on Windows 10. *
THANK YOU so much for this mod, this is not just a mod, is something the game urgently needs to run WAY smoother, worked just perfectly for me
PS: running in Windows 11 Home Edition, I was able to install it using the patcher with no problems
Sorry, I know that's basically hot air and doesn't solve your problem, but to reiterate I don't think that has anything to do with this patch, as I've been using it for a while now and haven't seen anything like it. Would need more information to help narrow it down for you -- as would the mod author, I imagine.
If any info helps, my PC only has integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000. In case that's the issue.
I've tried Special K (at least the latest version, not the one on this mod page) and that does have a noticeable difference, but it requires running through its own launcher, which is a pain. It also makes the pause menu (which appears natively 60fps) stutter when navigating the menu/elements,
However following the non-SK method two guide here does work, and the menus are at least close to performance of native, if a bit fast. (Still 32-bit though.)
How weirdly inconsistent.